1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic light-emitting element having a configuration in which a silver thin film is used as an electrode and exhibiting a high luminous efficiency, and a light-emitting apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a display apparatus, and an image pickup apparatus, which include the organic light-emitting element.
2. Description of the Related Art
The organic light-emitting element is formed from a first electrode, a second electrode, and an organic compound layer disposed between the two electrodes. The light emitted from a light-emitting layer in the organic compound layer is released from one electrode (light take-out electrode) of the first electrode and the second electrode. Regarding the organic light-emitting element, in order to realize low-voltage driving and a high luminous efficiency, a metal, e.g., silver, exhibiting high electrical conductivity and low optical absorption in a visible light region is used as the light take-out electrode.
However, in the case where silver is used as the light take-out electrode, optical absorption intrinsic to silver may occur depending on the film formation environment. In order to suppress absorption by the silver thin film, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-171637 discloses an organic light-emitting element by using a stacked transparent electroconductive film, which is composed of an underlying layer formed from a metal other than silver and a silver thin film layer formed from silver or a silver alloy, as an electrode. Furthermore, it is disclosed that the metal other than silver of the underlying layer can be selected from the group consisting of gold, aluminum, copper, indium, tin, and zinc.